Pets and Air Travel

If air travel is part of your vacation plans and you’re loath to leave a beloved pet at home, options can be limited.

Into the pet transport field comes a Florida company, Pet Airways, that flies pets instead of people. The company celebrated its first anniversary last month, having flown more than 1,000 animals on a fleet of three Beechcraft 1900s, a 19-passenger airplane with the seats removed. The turboprops can accommodate up to 50 animal crates per flight, and nearly every flight is filled, says Alysa Binder, who started the Delray Beach, Fla., company, with her husband.